Producer's Blog: When disaster strikes, policy changes

Natural disasters hit a powerful nerve in our collective memory. Scenes of homes ripped apart by a tornado in a matter of minutes and communities walloped by an enormous storm surge bring us closer to this ground truth: there are forces far beyond our control constantly at play.

But with devastation come important pivots and insights in our ability to protect ourselves. It’s that a-ha moment when we realize the safest place to hide from a tornado isn’t in the bathtub, but in a purpose built storm shelter.

Destruction on such a massive scale can catalyze citizens and policymakers to push for innovative solutions. Mikki Davis, the mother of one of the seven students who tragically lost their lives after an EF-5 tornado careened into Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla., is an outspoken champion for putting storm shelters in every Oklahoma school and shared her story with "TechKnow." 

In the spirit of her advocacy, here are four case studies of transformative post-disaster policy change.  

Hurricane Betsy (1965) 

Hurricane Betsy swirled into the Gulf Coast on September 9, 1965, sending floodwaters throughout southeast Louisiana and causing serious damage in the New Orleans metropolitan area. Flood insurance was virtually unavailable back then for the 164,000 homes drowned by the storm surge. Congress enacted the National Flood Insurance Program to provide a safety net for those living in vulnerable areas and improve floodplain management. The federal program is currently $20 billion in the red; it may be time to fix it.

Loma Prieta & Northridge Earthquakes (1989, 1994)

Both earthquakes brought national attention to a structural flaw that’s lingering in thousands of California homes: soft-story design. Typically, soft story configurations have weak ground floors and lack interior partition walls: think parking garages with lots of open space. During a ground shaking earthquake, these structures are more likely to “pancake” or lean and collapse.  Nearly 7,000 units in Loma Prieta and 34,000 in Northridge fell because of this faulty design. A mandatory soft story retrofit ordinance was signed into law just this past April. And if the building owner doesn’t comply with the seismic retrofit, they’ll get slapped with a scarlet letter on their property.

Hurricane Andrew (1992)  

Nearly 20 years ago, a Category 5 hurricane slammed into South Florida, leaving a 25 mile-wide path of destruction and causing an estimated $26 billion in damage. Investigators found that much of the damage was due by poor building codes and lax standards. Now, South Florida has one of the strongest building codes in the nation: officials banned staples and strand board, and required homes to have storm shutters or impact-resistant glass that can withstand a hit from wind borne-debris.

Enterprise, Alabama Tornado (2007)

In 2007, an EF-5 tornado ripped through Enterprise High School in the middle of the school day, killing eight students when the walls and roof collapsed on them as they sought safety in a hallway. Three years later, the state passed a law requiring all new school building construction to include a tornado shelter. Alabama is the only state in the United States with a law like this. 

Watch "TechKnow," Sunday 7:30ET/4:30PT, for more on new technology aimed at keeping people safer from tornados and other severe storms.